Aukus nuclear submarine deal will be ‘too big to fail’, Richard Marles says
Story by Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent • 6h ago - 17-3-2023
“Just as there is a lot of effort going into illuminating the seas, there is a lot of effort going into creating more stealth around a submarine,” Marles said.
“You could flip the question and say: how confident are we that the veil of the sea will be lifted by 2050 such that we don’t need a submarine capability? Well, that would be a negligently risky call to make on the part of any Australian government.”
Marles said the fact many countries were investing heavily in submarines showed that they would be “really useful parts of military capability for decades to come”.
“But precisely because there is an effort to illuminate the sea is why a submarine capability, based on a diesel-electric power system, is going to be through the latter part of this decade and into the 2030s a comparatively diminishing capability, because more of that will be able to be seen.”
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said this week that the best way for Australia to reassure the region about the submarine plan would be to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
It is Labor party policy to do so, but only “after taking account” of several factors, including the need for an effective verification and enforcement architecture and work to achieve universal support from other nations. The nuclear weapons states including the US have opposed the treaty, arguing it is out of step with the current security environment.
Marles said Australia wanted “a world where there are no nuclear weapons”, and had sent observers to the first meeting in Vienna last year.
“A meaningful contribution to the removal of nuclear weapons needs to involve the engagement of the countries which have the nuclear weapons,” he said.
“We completely get the intent of it, and we agree with the intent of it … but what the treaty needs to seek to achieve is universality in terms of those countries signing up to it, so that’s the issue.”
Story by Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent • 6h ago - 17-3-2023
“Just as there is a lot of effort going into illuminating the seas, there is a lot of effort going into creating more stealth around a submarine,” Marles said.
“You could flip the question and say: how confident are we that the veil of the sea will be lifted by 2050 such that we don’t need a submarine capability? Well, that would be a negligently risky call to make on the part of any Australian government.”
Marles said the fact many countries were investing heavily in submarines showed that they would be “really useful parts of military capability for decades to come”.
“But precisely because there is an effort to illuminate the sea is why a submarine capability, based on a diesel-electric power system, is going to be through the latter part of this decade and into the 2030s a comparatively diminishing capability, because more of that will be able to be seen.”
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said this week that the best way for Australia to reassure the region about the submarine plan would be to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
It is Labor party policy to do so, but only “after taking account” of several factors, including the need for an effective verification and enforcement architecture and work to achieve universal support from other nations. The nuclear weapons states including the US have opposed the treaty, arguing it is out of step with the current security environment.
Marles said Australia wanted “a world where there are no nuclear weapons”, and had sent observers to the first meeting in Vienna last year.
“A meaningful contribution to the removal of nuclear weapons needs to involve the engagement of the countries which have the nuclear weapons,” he said.
“We completely get the intent of it, and we agree with the intent of it … but what the treaty needs to seek to achieve is universality in terms of those countries signing up to it, so that’s the issue.”
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